


I've missed you, Psycho

by baeconandeggs, bbhsequoia



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M, mafia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:55:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24168445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baeconandeggs/pseuds/baeconandeggs, https://archiveofourown.org/users/bbhsequoia/pseuds/bbhsequoia
Summary: Borderline psychopath slash hacker Byun Baekhyun only wanted to have Park Chanyeol back. Apparently, it's too much to ask for. Chaos ensues.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 44
Kudos: 175
Collections: BAE2020





	I've missed you, Psycho

**Author's Note:**

  * For [behkhoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/behkhoon/gifts).



> **Recipient:** behkhoon  
>  **Disclaimer: baeconandeggs/the mods is/are not the author/s of this story. Authors will be credited and tagged after reveals.** The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> **Author's Note:** First of all, I'd like to thank the mods for being very understanding. This fic wouldn't be possible without you. Second, to my exchange partner, I think I bent the prompt a little too much to fit my liking so I'm sorry if it doesn't meet your standards. I hope you like it though. Lastly, to everyone who will read this, thank you for taking your time to read this mess. This fic is brought upon by my obsession with Sherlock Holmes so if it's weird, I blame it on that.

_ Click. Clack. Click. Clack.  _   
  
The light patter of his dress shoes echoed in the grim alley. It was ridiculous to wear dress shoes to where he's going but the thought of weirding people out with his get up made him smile.    
  
He continued to walk in steady steps, heading to a particular place with clear intent. His heart rate increased, the thought of the thrill he was bound to experience made his heart dance.    
  
At last, he stopped in front of a dark warehouse. At first glance, it wasn’t anything special. Like an abandoned place where ordinary people get too scared to venture. The entire place was cliché and he couldn’t help the smirk that formed upon his lips.   
  
He entered in confident strides and stopped a few feet from the door. The place was eerily quiet. Suddenly, he felt the cold press of a gun at the back of his head. His blood ran cold and he smiled. Oh, the thrill of being at a gunpoint. Knowing you could lose your life with a single click.    
  
But he wasn’t afraid, in fact, he was  _ thrilled _ .    
  
"Who are you?" The man asked.   
  
" _ Byun Baekhyun _ ."    
  
\-    
  
As a young child, Baekhyun’s parents were always wary of his actions. He wasn’t like any other child out there, he was cunning, manipulative, and smart. His parents, average people, never understood him. They gave him weird looks and started talking in hushed tones whenever he said or did something way different than any other normal kid. At first, Baekhyun did not understand why his parents acted like that. He saw other children’s parents and they were always cooing at their kids like they were heaven sent. He didn’t understand why his teachers hated him either, or why his classmates never approached him. Was he weird? They always told him that.

“Baekhyun, don’t do that, it’s weird.”

“Mommy, why is he like that? He’s weird.”

“Honey, why is our son so weird.”

What was weird? Was it when he hit animals on the street when they were bugging him? Was it when he accidentally saw a horror movie on television and found the killing scenes satisfying? Was it when he started hitting and throwing things every time he had a tantrum? Was it when he got so mad at his parents, he wanted to get rid of them? Baekhyun didn’t understand the people around him. ‘Me, weird? I don’t think so.’

It was a few years later when Baekhyun finally understood what made him different. He realized he thrived from doing bad, mean things.

At age 5, he beheaded a doll in front of his younger cousin and the way she cried and squirmed made him feel exhilarated. At age 15, he kept a dead cat in his fridge and the frightened look in his mother's eyes when she found it made him excited. At age 18, he killed a random man's girlfriend in front of him and his horror-struck face made him extremely happy. He wasn't normal, and he realized it then.   
  
He  _ thrived _ from it.    
  
Word from the streets spread about this insane kid Byun Baekhyun, and everybody stayed away from him. Parents kept their children away from him. His parents left him. Human contact became scarce.   
  
Baekhyun didn't care though, what other people thought was of little importance to him. And it was all okay, because he met somebody who actually tolerated him.

  
Unlike everybody else, this person didn't shy away from Baekhyun — didn't call him a freak and scream whenever he passed by.    
  
No, this one,  _ he _ watched.  _ He _ observed Baekhyun.  _ He  _ stayed by his side. And together they formed this weird camaraderie.    
  
Baekhyun loved it. How  _ he _ watched him do the weirdest and naughtiest things. How they sometimes did those things together. The memory alone made his heart dance and Baekhyun couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his lips.   
  
Finally, after a long wait, he would meet him again.    
  
The thrill in his life was about to come back.    
  
\-    
  
The man slowly lowered his gun. "Follow me," he said.    
  
They made their way to an office, and Baekhyun's heart rate began to go faster. It's time.    
  
Behind this door was the man he waited to meet after a long,  _ long _ time. And the wait has been  _ so _ worth it.    
  
The stranger lets him enter the room alone.    
  
Baekhyun smirked and entered confidently.    
  
When their eyes met, he felt sparks erupt in his body.    
  
\-    
  
"You're here."    
  
Baekhyun made his way closer to the desk. "Yes, Jongdae referred me."    
  
The man chuckled. " _ Referred _ ? The wording is a bit unusual but I wouldn't expect any less from you."    
  
Baekhyun smiled brightly at the compliment. A compliment to him anyway.   
  
He was about to answer but the heavy steps making their way towards the office stop him. Someone then barged into the office. A pale tall boy with dark hair. Handsome, if Baekhyun may say.    
  
"Park! The Shanghai mafia—" he abruptly stopped talking when he spotted the third presence in the room. "Who's this?" 

  
Park Chanyeol smirks. "This is the new recruit, Byun Baekhyun. Our new hacker."    
  
\-    
  
Baekhyun learned hacking when he was 17. He hacked surveillance cameras into different people and he enjoyed watching them.    
  
He didn't do much. Just watch the people and then send them anonymous messages telling them that he was watching. The way they all panicked thrilled him.    
  
It thrilled him so much that he made hacking his profession.    
  
\-    
  
  
Several eyes stared at him. Most would be unnerved but Baekhyun reveled in it. Their questioning eyes excited him.   
  
"Everyone, this is Byun Baekhyun. Our new hacker. Remember his face. He works directly under me. That is all," Chanyeol said.   
  
_ Under him? Hmm. _ _  
_   
Baekhyun stared at him. He hasn't changed much. Still the same powerful man who exudes so much threat just by his stance alone.   
  
Baekhyun smiled.   
  
Chanyeol signaled for Baekhyun to follow him. The latter waved lightly at the audience and then left.   
  
Chanyeol's steps are firm and he's just so manly. Baekhyun's eyes softened a little. He missed him.   
  
They re-entered the office and they sat together in silence. It's  _ boring _ . Baekhyun hated boring.   
  
"Chanyeol?"   
  
"Yeah?"   
  
"Shouldn't I do something?" Chanyeol looked up. "Do what?"   
  
"Hacker things?"   
  
Chanyeol smiled, leaned forward with his shoulders on the table. Then he puts his chin on top of his clasped hands.   
  
_ Cool _ .   
  
"You're bored aren't you? Is that what this is Baekhyun? Is that why you're here?"   
  
"Why would you ask something you already know the answer to?"   
  
Chanyeol shook his head.   
  
"Alright. I'll give you something to do."   
  
Baekhyun's steady heart rate quickened, the thought of the crime that awaited him made him very, very excited.   
  
Chanyeol eyes sparkled with something akin to mischief.   
  
"Do something. Anything. Show me how you can benefit the syndicate with your skills. Impress me, Baekhyun."   
  


His heart danced. It has been a long time.   
  
A myriad of thoughts go through his brain. Impress Chanyeol. Hmm. So many ways. But which will astound him the most?   
  
_ I've got to go past his standards. Show him I'm still the Baekhyun he once knew. _ _  
_   
Chanyeol watched him in interest.   
  
"You can go. Come here if you need help. Hopefully you won't be coming here  _ too _ much."

  
Baekhyun chuckled lightly and left.   
  
He's got something he needs to plan.   
  
-   
  
_ Park Chanyeol, head and capo of the biggest crime syndicate in South Korea. A very notorious man. _ _  
_   
Baekhyun paced around his room. The room was a mess, things scattered and thrown around. He sighed and plopped down on his bed. "What can you do to impress a man like Chanyeol? Think, Baekhyun, think!" He closed his eyes and stood still. He opened his eyes a few seconds later and his eyes sparkled with mirth.   
_  
_ _ Ah. _ _  
_ _  
_ He sat up.   
  
_ Yes, perfect _ .   
  
-   
_  
_ _ Silla, 6th century _ . Crowns, fit for a king.   
  
Baekhyun made his way to the National Museum of Korea, this time wearing inconspicuous clothes. The museum only had a few people, perfect to plan his heist.   
  
He went around different artifacts until he found exactly what he was looking for.   
  
_ The Gold Silla Crown. _ _  
_ _  
_ Now this, will impress Chanyeol.   
  
A crown of national importance, never stolen and under very high security. Baekhyun smirked. He loved the challenge.   
  
He put his palm in front of the glass case and analyzed it.   
  
_ Low iron. _ Used for the visual upgrade of glass.   
_  
_ _ Solvent bonded. _ Increases the glass strength.   
  
_ 10mm thickness.  _ Can be hard to break.   
  
After he surveyed the entire place, Baekhyun made his way out of the museum. And just before he totally left the place, he observed the guard. When they made eye contact, he smiled his perfect cute little smile. Very deceiving.

_ It’s time to start the mission.  _

The bright light of Baekhyun’s laptop stood out in his dimly lit room, and the fast tapping of keys echoed around the place.

He needed an ID. An ID that can make him enter the museum at any time. What better ID than that of a guard? They watch and roam around the place all day. Easy to blend in with them if you know what you're doing.

And Baekhyun just happened to know what he's doing. Maybe a little too well.

The sun was rising when Baekhyun stopped tapping on the keys of his laptop.

_  
_ _ It's morning already? Shit. _

He stretched his limbs and speedily made his way out of his apartment.

An ID weighed lightly in his jacket.   
  
-   
  
He entered the warehouse and the inside was shockingly not as quiet as it was a few nights before.   
  
He navigated the place and entered the kitchen or something that looks similar to it. Familiar faces greeted him.   
_  
_ _ Ugh. _   
  
Growing up hated, Baekhyun grew to hate the thought of socializing. Only Chanyeol was above that rule, and at that moment he was hoping that none of these people try to talk to him.   
  
"You're the new kid right?"   
  
But apparently that's a little too muck to ask for.   
  
Baekhyun looked at the guy, and he remembered him as the one who barged into Chanyeol's office the first time he was here.   
  
He nodded, hoping they'll get the gist that he doesn't want to talk.   
  
"Oh come on, talk to us a little,” a new one playfully said. He's tad bit dark skinned, but still attractive.   
  
Did you need looks to be here?   
  
Baekhyun ignored him and proceeded to make his coffee.   
  
He saw from his peripheral view that the dark skinned one shook his head lightly and the others took it as a sign to continue on with their chat. He felt slightly thankful.   
  
-   
  
Baekhyun made his way towards Chanyeol office.   
  
When he entered, Chanyeol was busily reading a file. "Hey."   
  
Baekhyun smiled and sat on the desk. "What are you reading?"   
  
Chanyeol closed the file. "Nothing important."   
  
"You're some kind of mafia boss, of course you're reading something important."   
  
"I meant, not important to you, Baekhyun."   
  
Baekhyun nodded his head and then swung his legs happily.   
  
"What are you doing here?"   
  
"Can't I come because I want to?" he quirkily asked. "You know, for a newly recruited member, you're really confident to just go about and do what you want."   
  
Baekhyun looked Chanyeol in the eye. "You know nothing stops me, Chanyeol."   
  
They ended up staring at each other until Chanyeol blinked.   
  
"I win,” Baekhyun smirked. "You're still as childish as ever, I see."    
  
"Go away Baekhyun you're not supposed to stay here, what will the others think?"   
  
"I don't care what people think, Chanyeol."   
  
"I don't care what you think, you're not supposed to be here. Stay in the lounge until somebody asks you to do something."   
  
Baekhyun looked away and furrowed his eyebrows.   
  
"Alright," then he slowly made his way out of the office.   
  
It hurt a little, but it's a clear reminder that they're not what they used to be.

  
-

Baekhyun sat quietly in the deserted lounge. It seemed that everyone was busy except him. He furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance, why did this place make him feel so unimportant? Aren’t hackers supposed to be busy? Or was Chanyeol waiting for him to prove himself worthy before letting him get on with his job?

He sighed quietly when he realized he didn’t have the answers to his questions.

He then stood up and made his way home since nobody seemed to be needing him at the warehouse.

The walk to Baekhyun’s apartment was quiet, filled with lingering thoughts about his heist. He needed to do it soon. The sooner he impressed Chanyeol, the better.

At the thought of Chanyeol, Baekhyun felt himself slowly getting upset.

_ Why is he acting like he doesn’t know me? _

Baekhyun shook his head and tried to forget about the whole Chanyeol ordeal. Work was more important.

The apartment was once again filled with quick typing sounds from Baekhyun’s furious typing. The said person was a mess, eyes almost leaving its sockets from the long hours of staring into his computer. He was trying to finalize his heist by hacking into the museum’s surveillance cameras and setting a timer to switch them off. Baekhyun smirked triumphantly to himself,  _ the guards wouldn’t even notice _ .

_ The entire museum staff wouldn’t even know what hit them. _

Baekhyun shut his computer off and dozed off to sleep happily with the thought of officially starting his heist soon.

-

Baekhyun woke up giddy and excited. His heist was taking up almost his entire attention and the fact that he’s nearly got it out of the way is making him feel very elated. He skipped towards his kitchen and made breakfast, thinking of what to do once he gets the entire heist over with.

_ Definitely do something to fix his relationship with Chanyeol. _

No matter how unobvious it seemed, not having a clear established relationship with Chanyeol was making him slightly restless. Who knows who could snatch him up before he could. Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows at the thought. “Guess it’s more motivation for me to end this heist faster,” he groaned. “I don’t even understand why I have to do it. If anyone is going to be untrustworthy to be working for Chanyeol, I’d be last person on that list.”

He’s annoyed but deep down he understood that he’s been gone for a long time and suddenly popping back up into Chanyeol’s life doesn’t clarify his intentions. And considering the fact that he’s a bit of a psycho (Baekhyun laughed at the thought), Chanyeol putting up walls between them was completely understandable.

_ Just because it’s understandable doesn’t mean I have to like it though. _

_ - _

Baekhyun once again found himself in the lounge surrounded by people. People who he now knew as Jongin, Sehun, and Kyungsoo. They were noisy, at least Jongin was. Baekhyun didn’t understand how one person could spout so many words in a minute. But if Jongin was not addressing him directly then it wasn’t that big of a problem.

He then found his thoughts drifting onto his heist once again. This night, he could finally prove himself. He could earn Chanyeol’s trust and maybe slowly bring their relationship back together.

When night time arrived, Baekhyun found himself dressed in black and swiftly making his way to the museum. It was eerily quiet and he smirked to himself at how easy this whole ordeal was.

He stood behind a pillar and waited.  _ Five seconds.  _ It was exactly five seconds later when the guard stationed outside made his way inside to switch patrols. Baekhyun rolled his eyes at how careless the whole security was.  _ Honestly, why hasn’t this place been robbed before _ .

He was able to successfully enter the museum, treading with light steps towards the section where the crown was found. When he saw the place, he used the guard’s ID that he duplicated with the use of his hacking skills, to open the door.

Just before the door slid open, Baekhyun pressed a button in his phone and a light click was heard notifying him of the security cameras being turned off.  _ Five minutes. _

Baekhyun swiftly made his way inside and found the glass case that contained the crown.

Problem was,  _ it wasn’t there. _

Baekhyun froze.  _ What the fuck? _ He looked around and found that everything was as it was before. Except for the fact that the crown wasn’t there. Baekhyun was so confused that it took him too long to realize that alarms were blaring in the museum.

He looked around and ran outside of the room, locking it and once again activating the cameras. He swiftly hid from pillar to pillar to make his way out, making sure to stay away from the camera’s view. Rushed footsteps could be heard from down the hall and for once in his life, Baekhyun felt his heart race for a reason other than thrill.

He closed his eyes and took deep breaths.  _ I can do it, I can make it out of here. _

Why was the crown not there? He checked just a few hours ago and it was there sitting prettily inside that glass case. It must have been stolen a few hours before him, or worse, minutes before him. But if the alarms were any clue, the thief must have left just as he arrived.

He shook his head. He would worry about that later. Right now, escaping was his priority. And so he ran, hoping to the Gods that he wouldn’t come across a guard. Or worse, that he wouldn’t come across the thief itself. 

When he made it outside, his heart was beating so loud he could hear it so clearly in his ears. He ran towards his car but instantly stopped in his tracks when he heard someone whistle. He felt a shiver run down his spine. 

He turned to look and saw a man, carrying a black bag smirk towards him. Baekhyun felt himself tremble uncharacteristically. He  _ never  _ trembled. 

Dark cat-like eyes stared at him, shining in the night.

-

Baekhyun was fast-walking while heading towards the warehouse. It wasn’t a coincidence. The whole thing wasn’t a coincidence.

That museum has never been robed before, and just when  _ he  _ was about to, somebody else beat him to it. And they did it at the  _ same time  _ and were planning to steal the  _ same thing _ ? 

No, it wasn’t making any sense. Somebody must be watching him. Maybe Chanyeol’s enemies were? But he didn’t even do anything that showed his allegiance towards the syndicate. Only Chanyeol’s men knew who he was. And nobody else knew their past relationship with each other.

Something was definitely going on.

When he reached Chanyeol’s office, he started knocking furiously. “Jesus slow it down, come in!”

Baekhyun entered and was surprised to see Sehun there. He paid him no mind and looked at Chanyeol.

“What is it? You seem very rattled,” Baekhyun could see that both Chanyeol and Sehun were observing him intensely.

“I was doing a heist earlier,” he started. “A heist?” Sehun incredulously asked. Baekhyun gave him a stink eye and continued. “Yes. A heist. I had it all planed, Chanyeol. I knew I was going to achieve it, everything was perfectly planned,” Baekhyun felt his throat clog up. He didn’t know if it was because he was scared or because he was disappointed at himself. Although, deep inside he knew exactly why but he wasn’t ready to admit it to himself.

“But when I got there, it was already stolen. I almost got caught because the alarms started ringing. I don’t know what in hell triggered it or if somebody did that to me on purpose. I got to escape but before I left, I saw…I saw him,” Baekhyun stopped for a second to catch his breath. Chanyeol noted that his eyes were not wearing the confident gleam they used to have.

“Him?” Chanyeol asked him. “Yeah. It was this guy. Average height. But he had these cat eyes or something. He was smiling at me, Chanyeol. Like he was  _ waiting for me there. _ I don’t know what the hell went wrong with my plan but that guy, I don’t have a good feeling about him.”

Baekhyun saw Chanyeol and Sehun make eye contact. He looked at Sehun and the guy quickly avoided his eyes. Baekhyun’s brows furrowed at the act.

“I see,” Chanyeol started, “Don’t worry Baek, we’ll take care of it.” “Does that  _ we _ include me?”

“No, it’s not safe for you—” Baekhyun felt himself grow annoyed. “What do you mean not safe for me? I joined a syndicate for God’s sake, I’m not a kid,” he saw Chanyeol’s jaw twitch angrily. “Stay at the lounge Baekhyun, Sehun and I will deal with it,” his voiced was laced with anger and authority. Baekhyun didn’t find it in him to argue after that.

It wasn’t going to stop him though. If Chanyeol wasn’t going to ask for his help, he’ll find out on his own. He’s capable enough of that. And this time, there would be no mistakes. __  
__  
-

It’s been a few days since the failed heist incident and Baekhyun was starting notice that something was amiss within the warehouse. Syndicate members, although they aren’t acting that different from usual, are appearing less often. And being a great observer, Baekhyun was starting to notice that people are starting to seem like they’re on edge. ‘This must be related to that heist, I’m sure of it,’ he thought.

Baekhyun himself was starting to feel queasy. He’s been looking into the situation but with hardly anything to begin with, it was hard to figure anything out. As he sat in the lounge of the warehouse, he came up with another plan.

Even with his prior goal of making a perfect plan this time, this new plan was anything but. Guess winging it will have to do.

-

Baekhyun was once again cooped up in his room, furiously tapping at the keys of his laptop, trying to hack into Chanyeol’s laptop. “This should be easy enough,” he mutters under his breath. 

But three hours into the job, he realizes just what he was really getting into. It’s been three hours and he’s still nowhere near figuring out the security that was encrypted into Chanyeol’s laptop. Baekhyun didn’t know whether to be proud or mad at the man for being very careful.

He sighed and drank his now lukewarm coffee. Giving up wasn’t an option, whatever was happening, it was real serious and something at the back of his head was telling him that he’s somehow related to everything. If his involvement wasn’t enough to make him stay away from the problem, then surely his curiosity was. He was about to go back to work when he heard the tiniest sound. Had he been less observant, he would have failed to hear it.

He swiftly turned and watched a shadow appear in the corner of his room. ‘I’m definitely turning on the lights next time I work,’ he thought ruefully. “You know, doing what you’re doing could get you killed.”

Baekhyun didn’t know what to feel when he heard that familiar voice. He’d recognize it anywhere.

“I could take you seriously but I’m too amused with the irony involved in your sentence,” Baekhyun answers. The person in the shadows finally moved closer, granting Baekhyun a clear look upon Chanyeol’s expression. “I’m serious Baekhyun. I could kill you for going behind my back like this.”

Instead of feeling scared over his words, he felt himself getting upset. “I would never go behind your back if you had trusted me to help you in the first place.”

Upon his words, Chanyeol’s expression changed into a torn one. This time he softly says, “I’m doing it for you Baek, please let me deal with it.”

Baekhyun furrowed his brows. “I don’t get it Chanyeol, why do you need to deal with it alone? Why is this even that big of a deal? What are you hiding?” the capo sighed and sat down in his bed. If he wasn’t so caught up with everything that’s happening, he would’ve found the scene cute.

“Baek, you’re looking for answers that I can’t give you,”  _ can’t _ not won’t, this must be worse than he thought it to be. “We’re dealing with something that is far bigger than you’re imagining, I want you to stay away because I want you safe,” Baekhyun felt his heart swell. Seeing Chanyeol like this, he’s starting to wonder whether he was the only one longing for the other all this time. 

He walked towards the tall man, crouching in front of his form. “Chanyeol, you have to trust me, I can help you. I’m part of the syndicate because I want to help you,” they stared at each other, sharing a connection that nobody else had, only through it did Baekhyun finally understand.

“Are they after you Chanyeol?” he asked quietly. Chanyeol’s silence was enough of an answer. “Do they know?” he asked again. “About me, do they know?” Chanyeol looked down and answered quietly, “I’m not sure, but the fact that they sabotaged your heist is enough of an indication.” 

_ Are these people trying to use me against him? _

“Do you get it Baek, why I can’t have you help me with this?” Chanyeol asked, “I can’t have them know anymore about you than they already do.” 

“Why does it matter if it’s me? What do I have to do with it?”

Somehow, he knew the reason why, but being sure never failed anybody.

“Baekhyun,” the capo started, “Do you know why I never looked for you when you left? It’s because no matter how hard it was for me to see you go, I was also thankful. Because that way, I could keep you safe. My world isn’t safe Baek, my enemies are crawling around looking for ways to destroy me. If they knew about you, they would use you. Can’t you see Baek, you’re my weakness. My only weakness. Other syndicates will have a field day if they knew about you. I can’t risk that. I can’t risk  _ you. _ ”

Baekhyun felt his heart flutter. Looking at Chanyeol suddenly felt too intimate. He settled for looking at Chanyeol’s ears instead. “O-okay,” Baekhyun wanted to slap himself. As much as he prided himself for being a confident weirdo bordering psychopath, being around Chanyeol made him a stupid mushy teenager having a crush. And it was definitely not okay, he still wanted to help. But he could let it pass this once.

He looked at Chanyeol’s face and saw him smiling. Albeit a little smugly. Baekhyun rolled his eyes, trust Chanyeol to ruin the moment. “Only because you asked nicely though,” he muttered.

“Hm.” They stayed silent for a moment. “Baekhyun,” he hummed and sat beside Chanyeol. “Would you like to live with me?”

Baekhyun froze. His mind stilled. What?  _ What?! _ He turned to the Chanyeol and stared at him incredulously. “You know, it’s at times like these that I wonder whose got the weirder head,” Chanyeol only smiled cheekily. “I’m serious though. I want to keep you safe. And honestly, if you won’t live with me, I might send a few guards here and there to check on you,” Baekhyun kept silent and thought about it.

Living with Chanyeol doesn’t actually sound bad. In fact, it sounds great. It’s like a gate opened and the Gods are giving Baekhyun a chance. Before this mess, what did he want, wasn’t it to get Chanyeol’s approval and to mend their relationship? This is the golden chance.  _ Of course he’d say yes. _

But of course, seeming eager is a big no-no. Baekhyun sighed dramatically. “I guess I could. To lessen the burden of you having to constantly watch over me,” Chanyeol smiled so bright and Baekhyun wanted to kick himself for being so weak. 

The taller stood up and looked around the room. “Okay then, pack what you need, we leave right now.” 

He didn’t even feel shocked anymore.

-

The media was having a grand week with the news of the missing crown. Articles were spreading like wildfire. Baekhyun thought it was actually a pretty grand reaction. Other artifacts didn’t get this much attention when it was stolen, but the Silla Crown was a celebrity of it’s own kind. Deep down he was pretty annoyed that somebody else was able to take it.

The media however, were having a hard time figuring out who was in charge of the theft. Baekhyun found it quite suspicious, how the alarm rang but there was nothing else amiss in the museum. If you think about it rationally, it wasn’t possible. If that alarm rang, something must have happened. And if something happened, then the media would have caught on.

But there was nothing. So it had Baekhyun wondering, was it a sign?  _ What if Chanyeol’s enemies already knew about him? Them? _

Baekhyun snapped out of his thoughts when a loud crash was heard down the hall of Chanyeol’s house. Chanyeol’s house was incredible. It was big and beautiful, but nothing was there just for style. Everything inside the house was practical. Typical Chanyeol.

He stalked towards the noise and found himself hearing more noise. “I told you to put it down!” He grimaced at the voice. Jongin. Jesus, what are they doing here. Sehun and Jongin stopped arguing when they spotted him. Baekhyun narrowed his eyes the broken plate that littered the floor. “Uh hey,” Sehun mumbled. Baekhyun raised his eyebrow. “Chanyeol sent us, said maybe you needed some company,” Jongin explained. He groaned internally. Why couldn’t he have sent Kyungsoo?

“Okay,” he then went to the living room to sit down and do nothing. “Oh, and clean that mess you made there.”

He heard the two groan.

-

Having the two over then became a routine. To be honest, Baekhyun didn’t even understand why he had to stay home. Why couldn’t he stay at the warehouse instead. ‘At least Chanyeol’s there.’ He gloomily thought.

On the other hand, Jongin and Sehun’s banter never failed to amaze him. Did they never run out of things to fight about? The two were always at each other’s necks. Even the chairs were getting tired of them. Sometimes, Baekhyun felt torn over what to feel over their banter. It was noisy and annoying, but at least it took his mind off things.

“I’m telling you, she shouldn’t have went and drank with that guy, now Alex will never trust her!” Jongin heatedly explained. What were they talking about again? “At least she only drank with the guy! His ex went and cheated on him!” Ah. The latest episode of His or Hers. “That’s why they’re exes Sehun, exes!” Ugh.

“Can you tone it down? My ears are dying,” Baekhyun drawled while he was lazily spread out in Chanyeol’s love seat. “Is it? We’ll continue then,” Sehun replied while he rolled his eyes. Baekhyun glared at him. How dare this kid. To think that he’s even younger than him. The disrespect. “No thank you, if my ears were dying, the last thing I’d want to hear is your voice.”

“Hey! Our voices aren’t that bad!” Jongin told him. “For you, since you can’t hear yourself.” “I hate him, but he’s right.” Sehun jokingly muttered. Jongin kicked him in the shin.

-

Chanyeol arrived home late, everyday. Every time he did, his housekeeper, Suho, would tell him that Baekhyun was already in his room, sleeping.

Over the one and a half week that Baekhyun stayed at Chanyeol’s house, the two have hardly spoken to each other. Baekhyun figured since Chanyeol wasn’t talking to him, that Chanyeol must not feel happy with him invading his space, so he settled for avoiding Chanyeol at all costs. Every morning, he would make sure that Chanyeol was already gone before he made his way downstairs to have breakfast. And then Jongin and Sehun would come over and then leave after they had dinner. Baekhyun would eat his dinner as quickly as he can, and then he would retreat to his room after telling Suho that he’s going to sleep. The plan worked wonderfully.

His other plan of mending his relationship with Chanyeol though, not so much.

He was thinking deeply about how every plan he’s made has been failing ever since he reunited with Chanyeol, when the door burst open. “Holy shit, knock a little, would you?”

“So you  _ are  _ awake,” Chanyeol looks at him accusingly. Baekhyun threw the covers over his head and stayed silent. He heard Chanyeol sigh deeply. “Are you avoiding me?” “I dunno, are you?” his reply is mumbled because of the sheets. He held the blanket tighter when he felt Chanyeol’s hand trying to pull it off. “Come on, Baek. Don’t make this harder for me,” he heard the taller say.

Instantly, Baekhyun peeled the sheets off himself. His brows were furrowed together and Chanyeol was looking at him weirdly. “What do you mean, I’m making this harder for you?”

“You’ve been avoiding me!” Chanyeol narrowed his eyes. “True, but only because you wouldn’t talk to me!” Chanyeol looked conflicted. “I was? I’ve been trying to talk to you all week!” Baekhyun is baffled by the revelation. “All week? You’re the one who wasn’t coming home all week!”

At his words, Chanyeol quiets down. “I tried to talk to you when I got home though.”

Baekhyun felt regret when he saw how down Chanyeol looked. ‘Poor man was a capo dealing with a lot of shit and I’m here being a handful,’ he thought to himself disdainfully. “Sorry, I thought you didn’t want my company.”

Chanyeol surprised him by suddenly engulfing him in a hug. “Of course I want your company. Why would you even think otherwise? You’re the best thing that’s happened to me in years.” Chanyeol quietly told him.

Baekhyun couldn’t help the butterflies that erupted in his stomach. Chanyeol, what a sap.

-

After the encounter with Chanyeol, Baekhyun started settling comfortably inside the house. One Thursday morning, when Jongin and Sehun failed to show up, Baekhyun was starting to feel restless. He’s been very low key with his psychopathic urges ever since he reunited with Chanyeol, however, he cannot deny the fact that they are still there. Feeling quite suffocated, Baekhyun left the house only carrying a gun inside his hoodie.

He found himself in a clearing soon after, shooting senseless at everything around him. Pretending every bullet could take away one of his problems. His watch beeped loudly, notifying him that he has to leave in three minutes or people will start to notice the noise.

He started shooting more rapidly, aiming at random trees and branches, trying to channel his emotions into his shots. After a final shot, he swiftly hid the gun back into his hoodie and started walking away as if nothing happened. He passed by various people on his way back to Chanyeol’s house, nobody even batting an eyelash at him. Nobody knew.

Sometimes he thanked his parents for giving him such an innocent face. It made fooling people so much easier.

-

The house was quiet when he arrived. Baekhyun was starting to wonder why Jongin and Sehun haven’t arrived yet. Maybe they finally went back to work? If it was the case, then his ears can finally get the rest they needed.

Baekhyun found himself lying in his bed a few minutes later. His fingers were itching to do something. He was tired of hanging around doing nothing. Wasn’t he supposed to be a hacker? Why wasn’t Chanyeol giving him work? Was he just hired on a whim?

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a crash. ‘Why is everything breaking in here?’ he thought to himself. He ran downstairs to see what the commotion was about. He was granted a peculiar scene. Suho holding a gun and a stranger laid on the ground, shot dead. “Uh, why?” Baekhyun asked.

“Fucker spying on the house, waited for him to enter before I could kill him,” Baekhyun was actually quite surprised to see this side of Suho, he actually thought he was just a stupid housekeeper. He heard him whine a few seconds later. “Now I have to clean this mess. Oh God, the carpet…” Suho drawled before he left to clean the mess.

Baekhyun stared at the face of the body.  _ Chinese? _ The person didn’t seem like a Korean. Baekhyun wracked his brain for reasons why a Chinese person was trying to spy on the house— _ “Park the Shanghai Mafia—” _

Baekhyun stilled at the thought. When he first arrived at the warehouse, the place was silent. It could be wishful thinking, although it probably meant the syndicate was busy. Busy about? What if they were fighting the Chinese at that time? And then he heard Sehun tell Chanyeol about the Shanghai Mafia. Are they the ones going after Chanyeol?

He started to look for his laptop. This information was very helpful, finally he has a lead on what to do.

_ I’m sorry, Chanyeol. I can’t just sit and wait anymore. _

-

Baekhyun stared incredulously at the what he discovered. His eyes were hurting from the hard glare of the laptop screen. This must be why they were after Chanyeol. They’re losing money. A lot of money.

The screen showed the dropping rate of the Shanghai syndicate’s income. It was pummeling to the ground. Jesus, why?

He dug for more information and found that ever since Chanyeol took over as the head capo of South Korea’s branch, Korea started getting more dealing clients. ‘These clients must have been Shanghai’s past clients,’ he thought to himself. This must be because of Chanyeol great businessman abilities. The guy could convince anyone to do his bidding. If he weren’t a capo, Baekhyun was ready to bet his life that he’d be a social networker or something.

Shanghai must be so mad, they’re losing so much money. They must think that if they get rid of Chanyeol, the clients would turn to them.

Baekhyun looked further into the history of the Shanghai syndicate, discovering that other syndicates in China we’re starting to look down on them because of the whole situation. They were losing their power.

And everybody knows that people do everything for power. 

-

Chanyeol and Baekhyun started to become close to each other. There was one thing the bothered Baekhyun a lot though, Chanyeol never told him anything about the syndicate or about Shanghai. Chanyeol had him do a few hacking work over the course of the month, mostly for some stealing or for watching over suspicious allies. Baekhyun was feeling restless over the lack of information on the situation.

And it didn’t help that Chanyeol was such a great distraction. “Want to shoot some with me, Baek?” Chanyeol softly asked him. They were both at the living room. Chanyeol was ‘working from home’ so that Baekhyun wouldn’t feel lonely. Baekhyun sighed at the thought. He wasn’t stupid, something was definitely going on, and that’s why Chanyeol was home. But being a good actor, he played along. “Sure, where?” Chanyeol smiled brightly and dragged him to a room that he never knew existed inside that house.

The sight that greeted him was beautiful. It was a training room filled will every training equipment one could ever need. He glared at the tall man. “And you didn’t tell me about this room, why?” the other had the audacity to just smile cheekily. “I’ve been bored out of my mind for weeks, you prick!” Chanyeol walked away and he heard a low “Hehe, sorry.”

Baekhyun gloomily went after him.  _ Stupid, stupid, Park Chanyeol. If I didn’t love you so much I’d have killed you. _

-

Baekhyun didn’t understand how it happened. A few minutes ago they were fighting over who could shoot more into the paper dummy but now they were wrapped up in a heated kiss. Chanyeol was holding him closely and nipping at his lips. ‘Almost forgot how good of a kisser he was,’ he thought.

They went at it for a few more minutes until they separated from lack of breath. The two stared at each other before Baekhyun looked down from embarrassment.  _ Now, what? _

He felt the Chanyeol staring hard at him but he didn’t look up once. He heard the taller sigh before he let go of Baekhyun’s body and left the training room.

Baekhyun didn’t know whether he should feel happy or sad about it.

-

Baekhyun didn’t see Chanyeol for days after that. Sehun and Jongin didn’t come over either. Other than being bored out of his mind, Baekhyun was starting to feel upset. Was Chanyeol avoiding him? He asked the housekeeper, Suho, various times and he always told him “Sorry, Baekhyun, he’s busy he said.”

Busy, my ass.

Feeling himself getting more upset at the thoughts that surrounded his mind, he made his way to the training room. 

Ragged breaths filled up the entire room as Baekhyun continued to punch the punching bag with all he had. Maybe if he punched 500 times, all his problems would disappear. His arms and knuckles hurt but he kept punching. He was so frustrated. He just wanted to have Chanyeol back. Was it so hard? Why was the world acting like it despised him? Why was the syndicate getting in the way?

Tears started to pour from his eyes. He hated himself for it. Self-pity filled him.

Why am I so weak?

Does Chanyeol not like me?

Am I useless?

He was drowning in his own thoughts. Was it bad that he wanted to give up?

He stopped punching and flopped down the floor. He brought his knees closer to himself. Tears were still streaming down his face and a few times soft whimpers would leave him.  _ ‘Why am I so pitiful?’ _ he thought bitterly.

Baekhyun was so lost in his tears he failed to notice the soft footsteps nearing him. The cold press of a gun at the back of his head made him still. His heart was beating fast.

“Dear, dear Baekhyun. You poor thing crying here all alone,” the stranger said.

Baekhyun took a deep breath tried to calm him racing heart. Then he elbowed the person’s thigh. This brought him enough time to stand up and throw away the punching gloves. The stranger, however recovered quickly and pointed the gun in the middle of his forehead. “Don’t make me mad,” he hissed.

Baekhyun stared at the man, and cat-like eyes stared back.

“It was you,” the stranger raised his brow, “At the museum, I saw you, that was you.”

His heartbeat raced against his chest. How did he get here? Where was Suho?

The stranger chuckled at his inner turmoil. “Don’t worry, I didn’t hurt your precious housekeeper. He’s here in this house locked up somewhere,” Baekhyun started feeling angry. “Why the fuck are you here? What do you want?”

“Tsk, tsk, you’re not supposed to be asking questions. Be a good little hostage and be quiet for me, hmm?” he made some kind of gesture with his hand and four men came in. Baekhyun felt dread settle in his stomach. 

The four men came in and started touching him. “What are you doing?!” he started squirming and shouting at the men. The leader growled and roughly turned Baekhyun’s face to him. “Resist one more time and I’ll kill your stupid housekeeper before I kill you.”

-

Chanyeol could feel an inexplicable dread in his stomach. His hands were starting to jitter in nervousness.  _ Is this an omen? A bad one? _ He tried to ignore it and to continue working on his paperwork, but five minutes later, he found himself dialing his home number in worry. Six missed calls later, Chanyeol felt panic settle in.

He stood up abruptly and called Kyungsoo to manage the office while he left. “Why? Where are you going?” the small one asked. “Something came up at home, I need to check if everything is okay.”

Kyungsoo eyed him warily. He’s never seen Chanyeol this jittery before. Something must be wrong here. “Take Sehun and Jongin with you,” he advised. Chanyeol nodded absent-mindedly and left the room. He didn’t hear the soft mutter of ‘take care’ that followed.

-

Chanyeol was sitting in the backseat trying to contact both Baekhyun and Suho, but to no avail. Sehun and Jongin were side-eyeing him through the rearview mirror. The former couldn’t handle it anymore and asked. “What’s wrong? Is Baek okay?” 

It ended up unanswered.

On Chanyeol’s nth time calling Baekhyun’s number, it was finally answered. “Baek?” it was silent, “Hey, Baek? Are you okay? Is Suho hyung alright? What’s going on?”

Chanyeol felt his blood ran cold when he heard familiar soft whimpers. “C-Chanyeol…”

“Are you okay? What’s wrong  _ love _ ?”

“The p-person at the mu-museum…th-they have m-me,” Baekhyun softly whispered. Chanyeol never wanted to kill somebody more than he did at that moment. “Okay. Calm down, Baek. We’ll find you. Don’t worry love, we will.”

Suddenly a loud whimper was heard. “Hello, Chanyeol. Remember me?” Chanyeol felt his body lit up with rage.

“Bastard, what did you do to him?!” Chanyeol yelled at the phone. The other only laughed. “Don’t worry I won’t hurt him. I just need you to come for some tea. I need to have some business talk with you.”

“Fuck you,” the capo hissed.

He was only answered by a soft laugh before the call was ended. A few seconds later, a text came in from Baekhyun’s number.

It was an address.

-

After briefing Sehun and Jongin on what they were about to face, the three made their way to the address. 

It was an abandoned warehouse a little far from civilization. If they died here, hardly anybody would notice.  _ How comforting. _

They stealthily made their way inside, equipped with weapons. However, as soon as they closed the door, a click of guns echoed around the place.

Around 20 armed men were pointing their guns at them. Chanyeol couldn’t say he was surprised to face such a predicament because they came into the damn warehouse without a plan. Good thing they contacted back up though.

“What do we do,” Jongin whispered. Chanyeol kept silent and assessed their enemies. If he threw a smoke bomb, he could catch them off guard and shoot at least 7 of them dead. But it was too risky.

“Don’t even think about it,” a cold voice spoke. Chanyeol looked for the person and found him at the corner. Those same cat-like eyes. “Minseok.”

The enemy smirked slightly. “Drop the gun, you three.”

Nobody moved. “Put it down, we’ll play nice, I promise.”

Chanyeol and Minseok stared at each other for a while until the former put his gun on the floor. Sheun and Jongin followed.

With a gesture, Minseok’s men dropped their guns. “Come,” he said. Chanyeol, Sehun, and Jongin warily went after him. They walked for a while, and Chanyeol noticed there were less and less people the further they went. If they set their mind to it, they could kill Minseok now.

But Chanyeol needed to understand why the other did what he did.

He knew there was more to it than just the Shanghai syndicate losing their rank in business.

-

They entered a room that was set to look like a living room. Chanyeol felt his heart beat rapidly when he spotted Baekhyun tied up in a corner. Their eyes met and Chanyeol could see that the other was very scared.  _ How dare Minseok do this to him. _

Blinded with rage, Chanyeol grabbed Minseok’s collar. They stared at each other, wrath in each other’s eyes.

“Put me down, Chanyeol,” he said sternly. The other didn’t listen and just tightened his hold. “I don’t want to hurt anybody, but if you keep provoking me, I will kill your precious lover.”

Chanyeol’s eyes flicked over to Baekhyun and instantly dropped his hold when he noticed the small red circle aimed at the middle of his forehead. He looked around the room and found it coming from the window.

His hands curled into fists and he tried to control his ragged breathing. His heart screamed to hold Baekhyun close.

_ I let him down. _

Minseok watched the other’s inner turmoil. Why must people indulge in love? What is love?

“Take a seat, Chanyeol. Let’s talk”

-

The room was quiet, filled only with hushed tones between the two syndicate leaders. Baekhyun felt like his heart was too loud. He was so nervous. Knowing that a sniper was aimed at him and knowing that he could lose his life with a single click, his heart was having a field trip.  _ And not the good kind. _

He stared at Chanyeol. At the way his shoulders sat stiff. Chanyeol’s eyes flicked over to his every now and then, making sure he was alright.  _ I love him. _

The two leaders kept talking for a while, both shockingly calm in their conversation. After probably hours of feeling on edge, Baekhyun felt hope when he saw Chanyeol nod at Minseok. He tried listening in on the conversation, but Minseok’s men covered his ears earlier and everything he heard was muffled.

He saw Minseok reach for his pocket. He felt dread come crashing down on him.

Is he going to shoot Chanyeol?

Are they going to die?

He tried to scream to warn Chanyeol but his gag only let loud whimpers to be heard. Chanyeol alarmingly stood up. “What did you do?!” Chanyeol yelled.

Minseok looked over to Baekhyun and realized his predicament. “Calm down, I’m not going to shoot him,” he rolled his eyes.

“What?” Chanyeol muttered, not understanding anything.

Minseok took out a phone from his pocket and a few minutes later, a man came into the room.

Baekhyun could barely process the situation when suddenly the man that came in was shot to death like a rag doll. Baekhyun looked at Minseok alarmed. However, the said man was only sitting down. He flicked his eyes to Chanyeol and saw him holding a gun.

_ Why? _

Baekhyun was so confused. And suddenly, Sehun and Jongin came over to him. They started untying and removing the gags and ropes. The moment his mouth was free, he asked. “What is going on? Why did Chanyeol kill that guy? Is it over? What?”

The two completely ignored his question.

Baekhyun eyed Chanyeol. He was talking with Minseok. His brain stopped working when he saw the latter take his clothes off. He shook his head. Whatever was going on, he’ll understand later.

If there was any later.

Chanyeol started undressing the dead man, and then later clothing him with Minseok’s clothes.  _ Oh. _

So that was what this was.

Sehun handed him a bottle, which was probably filled with gasoline, guessing from the smell, and they started pouring it all over the room. All while Chanyeol and Minseok were busy destroying the face of the dead man until he was no longer recognizable. At last, Minseok opened a hidden door and lead them out of the place. Chanyeol held Baekhyun close as they made their way out. The latter stayed quiet, still quite rattled from his experience. He still didn’t fully understand what was going on, but he had a hunch.

When they arrived outside, there were two cars. Minseok turned to Chanyeol and gave him a key. “I expect you to keep your end of the deal,” he looked at Chanyeol seriously. “I will,” the other replied.

“Good,” the Shanghai leader opened the door to one of the cars, “Let’s never meet again.”

He smiled, and Baekhyun realized how innocent he looked when he did it, and then he entered his car and left.

Chanyeol tossed the key to Sehun, and then they entered the car together. The door was hardly even closed when Chanyeol engulfed Baekhyun in a tight hug.

Baekhyun’s eyes softened and he patted the taller man’s head softly. “It’s okay, Chanyeol. I’m okay,” he repeated over and over.

Suddenly, soft sniffles filled the car. Baekhyun stilled, and Sehun and Jongin side-eyed each other in shock.

“Chan, are you crying?” Baekhyun asked softly. Silence answered him, and the taller held him tighter.

_ Poor Chanyeol, he must have been scared. _

-

When they arrived at Chanyeol’s house, Baekhyun, Sehun, and Jongin, set off on a search for Suho. While Chanyeol contacted his men and told the back-up to quietly go back to the main warehouse. They later found Suho in one of the guestrooms tied up and unconscious.

When he Suho regained consciousness, the people of the house gathered in the living room for a talk.

Suho then explained that earlier, when he was about to begin gardening, he noticed the lack of guards surrounding the house. At first, he passed it off as guards switching for duty, but when almost half an hour passed and he still didn’t spot any guard, he hurriedly ran inside the house to check what was going on.

By the time Suho made it inside, the guards were already knocked out and that was when Minseok came and he and his men drugged Suho and tied him up. All the while, Baekhyun was in the training room, not noticing anything.

Everything that happened was recalled and Baekhyun found his thoughts trailing off to what happened inside the warehouse earlier. Sadly, Chanyeol didn’t go into detail on what happened inside the warehouse. 

Baekhyun made a mental note to ask him about it later.

-

The late night breeze held a calming effect over Baekhyun. He stared off into space, thoughts drifting to different topics. Chanyeol. Warehouse. Minseok. Love. Pity. He closed his eyes and tried to empty his thoughts.

He almost jumped when he felt large arms wrap around him. Chanyeol’s scent invaded his nose and couldn’t help but think  _ ‘I am home.’ _

They stayed like that for a while. Relishing in each other’s arms. There were so many things they wanted to tell each other, but both didn’t know where to even begin.

“Chan,” Baekhyun muttered. Said man hummed and squeezed his face into Baekhyun’s neck. Baekhyun giggled softly and playfully pushed the head away. “Can you tell me what you talked about with Minseok earlier?”

Chanyeol stayed quiet. Baekhyun felt slightly dejected at that, and exhaled a deep sigh.

“Minseok said…” Chanyeol started a few minutes later.

-

_ Minseok and Chanyeol stared at each other. “I’m going to ask you for a favor, in exchange for Baekhyun’s life.” Chanyeol’s eyebrows furrowed. What favor? “I want to leave, Chanyeol.” _

_ “Leave what?” “This world.” _

_ Minseok took a deep breath. “I want to live a normal life. I know it’s obnoxious for me to hope for something like that, but I do. I want to try what it feels like to go around without having to be scared of what is behind me. I want to know what it feels like to stand somewhere and not expect people to shoot me dead. I want to experience life. I want to experience love. I want to experience happiness. I want to live a different life.” _

_ Chanyeol couldn’t believe what he was hearing. _

_ “I’ve been planning to leave for years now. But with a position like mine, leaving is not even an option. You would know. I almost even lost hope, but when you became the head capo and South Korea started rising in the ranks, people started paying less attention to Shanghai, to me. Everybody was trying to get to you. They either wanted to kill you or to be you. People forgot about me. I mean, who cares about people with less power? Why serve me when they had you? I was thankful at that time. And so, I planned this ruse. I had to risk so many lives to make it look like I wanted to kill you. I had to make people think I hated to you. And-and I’ve come this far, and I’ve planned this whole thing out. I just need you to help me.” _

_ “Why me? And what do I need to do?” Chanyeol finds himself asking. _

_ “As I said, everybody knows about the power you have. Right now, nobody in their right mind would challenge you. You have the money, power, everything. If I make it look like you killed me, nobody would bother to question  _ why.  _ And with all the effort I took to make it look like I was desperate to kill you, people would even think I’m just another enemy you brought to his death bed. _

_ “I have one of my men, I erased all track of him. His life, his family—everything. It’s like he never existed. We’ll kill him and make him look like me. It’s easy enough, isn’t it?” _

_ Chanyeol stayed silent. Being able to leave the crime world is a great privilege. As much as he valued keeping Baekhyun safe, it’s not a fair bargain. _

_ “I’ll help you,” Minseok’s eyes sparkled, “But only if you also give me back what you stole.” _

_ “What I stole?” Minseok’s brows met in confusion. _

_ “Back in the museum, you took something of mine. I’d like to have it back.” _

_ The other’s cat-like eyes lit up in recognition. Then he hummed, contented. “Okay, deal.” _

_ “Also, everything that happened in this room stays in this room. Swear you life on it, Chanyeol.” _

_ “I swear,” the other promises. _

_ They shook each other’s hand. An indication a successful business deal. _

_ As they were making their way outside of the warehouse, Minseok whispered. “Don’t worry about the item. I’ll give it back as soon as I can.” _

_ - _

Baekhyun leaned back and rested his head somewhere on top Chanyeol’s heart. The night was calm and Baekhyun reveled in the quiet that surrounded them.

_ Everything is okay now, right? _

No more being scared.

They were going to be okay.

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol turned him around and their eyes met with great intensity.

“What is it?” Baekhyun feels like he could get lost in Chanyeol’s eyes if they kept staring at each other.

_ “Be my boyfriend?” _

Baekhyun felt his heart shake with happiness. It took a whole lot of shit to get here, huh.

“Of course, Channie.”

The taller man held his cheeks and kissed him hard. Baekhyun felt so moved, his emotions went haywire. He didn’t even notice the tears that welled up in his eyes.

They stared at each other, understanding what the other felt.

And as they stared at each other for a while longer, one thing remained unsaid.

_ I love you. _

-

A few days later, they found a gold crown sitting in the living room and _it wasn’t there earlier_.

**_The end._ **


End file.
